Notice
865 Words
Chapter 4: THE SYSTEM NOTICES
The System Office was in Gangnam.
Of course it was.
Big glass building. 40 floors. Purple portal swirling in the lobby like a company logo.
Receptionist was an AI hologram that smiled too wide.
*[WELCOME TO SYSTEM HQ]*
*[YOUR APPOINTMENT: GM-07. FLOOR 38.]*
I had 18 hours left on the warning. I showed up with 17 hours and 43 minutes to spare.
Very responsible criminal.
Elevator was glass. I watched Seoul go by. Dungeons on rooftops. Players flying between buildings.
Normal Tuesday.
*[ANOMALY METER: 12%]*
"Okay Ren," I told myself. "You’re just a D-rank with stupid luck. Act normal."
The doors opened on floor 38.
White room. White desk. White guy.
GM-07.
He didn’t have a face. Just a smooth mask. Like a mannequin. But his suit was tailored and he had a tablet.
"Ren Park," he said. Voice like customer service. "Sit."
I sat. The chair was uncomfortable on purpose. HR tactics.
"You’re trending," GM-07 said. Tapped the tablet. "2.3M views. #DRankRNGGod."
"My mom will be so proud," I said.
"Your 'luck' is statistically impossible," he said. "47 second S-rank clear. Environmental one-shot on a C-rank boss. Cooldown Reset used with 0.01 second precision."
I blinked. "Wow. You counted that?"
"We count everything." He tilted his head. "Explain."
This was it. The moment.
I could tell the truth: "I’m the Admin glitch and if you try to delete me I’ll [DELETE] you first."
50% Anomaly. Instant GM fight. I die.
Or I could lie.
I chose lie.
"Okay," I sighed. "You got me. I’m cheating."
GM-07 didn’t move. "Elaborate."
"I bought an exploit," I said. "On the black market. 'RNG Booster'. 50k won. Said it would give me better crits."
I pulled out my phone. Showed him a fake DM from "DungeonDeals420". I made it last night.
*DungeonDeals420*: _bro this mod makes ur arrows curve trust_
*Me*: _how much_
*DungeonDeals420*: _50k. No refunds if GM catches u_
GM-07 took the phone. Scanned it.
"Interesting," he said. "And you believed this?"
"Bro it’s the apocalypse," I said. "I believe in free food and cheap rent. 50k for better luck? Worth a shot."
He put the phone down. "We traced the account. It was deleted 2 minutes after you sent that message."
"See? Scammer," I said. "I got robbed AND I’m being investigated. Worst day ever."
Silence.
*[ANOMALY METER: 12% → 13%]*
"s**t," I thought. "Lying raises it?"
GM-07 stood up. Walked around the desk. Stopped in front of me.
He was 6'3". I was 5'9". Bad odds.
"Ren Park," he said. "Do you know what happens to Anomaly Users?"
"They get really good at gacha?" I tried.
"They are deleted," he said. "From the System. From records. From reality."
"Harsh," I said. "HR should look into that."
"I believe you are lying," he said. "But I cannot prove it. Your meter is only 13%. Below intervention threshold."
"So we’re good?" I asked.
"We are watching," he said. "You have a quota now."
He tapped the tablet. A new quest appeared in my HUD.
*[SYSTEM QUEST: GM SUPERVISION]*
*[CLEAR 3 DUNGEONS THIS WEEK. ALL UNDER SUPERVISION]*
*[FAILURE: FLAG FOR DELETION]*
*[REWARD: ANOMALY METER RESET TO 5%]*
"Reset to 5%?" I said. "That’s... actually good."
"Do not be late," GM-07 said. "And Ren."
"Yeah?"
"Stop being lucky."
He dismissed me.
---
I got out of that building and exhaled for what felt like the first time in 20 minutes.
13%. Quota. Supervised dungeons.
That was better than deletion. But worse than freedom.
My phone buzzed.
*Hana*: _yo u alive? heard GM was calling people in_
*Me*: _yeah. got homework now. 3 dungeons this week with a chaperone_
*Hana*: _...that’s bad right_
*Me*: _it’s fine. i love homework_
I walked to the nearest portal. Might as well start the quota.
*[D-RANK DUNGEON: SLIME CAVE]*
*[SUPERVISOR: GM-07]*
*[ANOMALY METER: 13%]*
He was already there. Floating. Clipboard out.
"Begin," he said.
I went in.
The dungeon was Lv.1-5. Baby slimes. 100 HP each.
I shot them. 12 damage. Missed 3 times.
Crit once "by accident".
*[ANOMALY +1%. CURRENT: 14%]*
GM-07 wrote something down.
"Problem?" I asked.
"Your accuracy is 41%," he said. "Yesterday it was 98%."
"Nervous," I said. "You’re staring."
He didn’t blink.
I cleared the dungeon in 6 minutes. D-rank speed.
*Reward: 5,000 credits. Trash loot.*
"Next," GM-07 said.
We did 2 more. Same thing. I played terrible on purpose.
By the end my meter was 16%.
"Dismissed," he said. "Report tomorrow."
He vanished in white light.
I stood alone in Gangnam Station.
16%. 2 dungeons left for the quota.
And I had a new problem: GM-07 was smart. He was counting my misses.
I couldn’t fake-bad forever.
My phone buzzed again.
*Unknown*: _I saw the video. I know what you are. -J_
Just "J".
I deleted it.
Then another.
*Hana*: _drinks again? you look like you got audited by god_
I laughed. Out loud. On the street.
"Yeah," I said to no one. "Drinks sound good."
Because if I was going to be watched, deleted, and blackmailed...
I might as well be drunk doing it.
*[ANOMALY METER: 16%]*
*[SYSTEM QUEST: 2/3 DUNGEONS COMPLETE]*
Tomorrow was going to suck.
[END OF CHAPTER 4]
- Writer
